Subsistence Patterns

Food is a basic need of all people. Subsistence patterns are the ways a society acquires its food resources.  

Alaskan Athabaskans relied on hunting and trapping animals, fishing, and gathering edible plants. They often covered great distances in their quest for food. The changing seasons, the weather, and the behavior of fish and game ordered the Athabaskans' lives.

In spring, many Athabaskans moved from winter villages to fish camps along the rivers. They fished for salmon with dip nets, basket-shaped traps, poles with hooks, and spears. A popular method to catch fish was constructing a weir or fence near the mouth of a small stream. This fence channeled fish into basket traps or nets. The Athabaskans made their traps out of thin strips of spruce tied with spruce roots. They usually made their fish nets from willow bark. 

Besides salmon, the Athabaskans also fished for Dolly Varden, grayling, ling cod, blackfish, whitefish, and pike. Portions of fish harvests were dried or smoked and then stored in caches to provide food through the winter. The supply of fish and game increased or decreased because of many factors. When the supply was low, some Athabaskans died of hunger despite their hunting and fishing skills. 

Alaskan Athabaskan groups hunted large animals, particularly caribou, in the fall. At that time of year, caribou began their migrations, moose gathered near rivers in search of mates, and fattened bears prepared to enter their dens.

To catch caribou, Athabaskans built corrals out of spruce logs. They herded the animals into them to be shot with bow and arrow, knifed, or speared. Bows were made from birch, black spruce, or willow branches and measured four to six feet long. Knives and spear points were made of stone. The Athabaskans also drove caribou into lakes or streams where they were more easily killed. In late fall and early spring, the Athabaskans trapped smaller fur-bearing animals, including rabbits, muskrats, porcupines, beavers, and squirrels. Ptarmigan, spruce hens, ducks, geese, roots, and berries supplemented the Athabaskans' diet. 

The Athabaskans used all parts of an animal. They ate the meat and fat. They crafted bones into tools and weapons. When dried, the tendons provided sinew that the women used for sewing. They used the hides for clothing and tent covers. They sometimes used fish skin to make waterproof parkas and boots.

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